Former president Salinas: he would be the first to face corruption charges, says AMLO.

AMLO will go after ex-presidents for corruption—if the public demands it

But the incoming president believes it would be better 'to forget that terrible history'

Published on Wednesday, November 21, 2018

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Justice for corrupt ex-presidents will depend on what the people want, says president-elect López Obrador, but his own personal opinion is to let bygones be bygones.

During an interview yesterday López asserted that if the public demands it, former presidents will be brought to justice, “starting with Carlos Salinas de Gortari,” who was president from 1988 to 1994.

López also recalled that he had previously filed formal complaints with the federal Attorney General’s office against former presidents Salinas, Ernesto Zedillo, Vicente Fox and Felipe Calderón and current president Enrique Peña Nieto. He filed the complaints at different times, he said, accusing them of treason and corruption. “I have never kept quiet.”

López Obrador insisted he is a “democrat” and that “the people should decide.” But he also said it would be better “to forget that horrible history. We must understand that the most important thing is to truly put an end to corruption and start a new phase.”

For the president-elect this means moving forward with zero impunity and no pardons, not even for the president. “If I betray the people, I should be judged.”

He said corruption investigations will continue, but those implicated could well be pardoned.

“. . . I do not believe it is good for the country to be bogged down in prosecuting allegedly corrupt people.”

If the country were to go down that road, he continued, justice should go after “those at the very top and from very long ago . . . because this crisis did not start last month.”

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